Divine Snakes, Sneaky Planets, and Remedial Rituals in South Indian Hindu Traditions

This paper focuses on contemporary beliefs about and devotional approaches to nāgas in Tamil Hindu traditions and asks what role snakes and their iconic representations may play in related ritual practices. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research on nāga traditions in Tamil Nadu, this chapter describes the multiple manifestations that nāgas may take—including actual reptiles understood as divine snakes who live in anthills, anthropomorphic goddesses installed in temples, and stone snake images found most often under sacred trees in temple courtyards—and analyzes the rich repertoire of worship dedicated to them. It focuses on a horoscopic problem called nāga dōṣam (“snake blemish”), which has contributed to a proliferation of rituals and sacred sites where snakes and planetary deities associated with this astrological condition can be petitioned, and considers the tiered, ticketed pūjās offered to pacify these planets at the Srikalahasti temple. Against the backdrop of extensive field research, interviews, and Tamil vernacular sources on nāga worship, snake blemish, and these planets, the paper proposes that shifting devotional tastes and consumption practices have contributed to decentering snakes in the most popular contemporary rituals to relieve nāga dōṣam.

Nāgas are primarily imaged as goddesses in South Indian Hindu traditions, where they enjoy enormous popularity due to their connection with fertility, healing, and familial good fortune. Snake goddess temples and open-air shrines are common features in villages and cities in Tamil Nadu and their links with fertility, marriage, and auspiciousness mean that women worshipers predominate in these spaces.

One factor that has contributed to the surge in popularity of snake goddess in recent years is concern about a horoscopic problem called nāga dōṣam (“snake blemish”) that is believed to result from harming or killing a snake in this or a previous life. An astrological flaw that is described as becoming more prevalent in contemporary times, nāga dōṣam manifests in inauspicious configurations of the planetary deities Rahu and Ketu in an individual’s horoscope. Rahu and Ketu, whose origins are outlined in the puranic story of the churning of the ocean, are understood as malicious “shadow planets” (chāyā graha) who can cause a range of difficulties for individuals depending on their location in a person’s birth chart. People who have disturbed, offended, or slain a snake may suffer from the negative effects of this act for up to seven generations, during which time Rahu and Ketu take up unfavorable positions in their horoscopes. Above all, as the planets who mete out karmic consequences to those who hurt snakes and prevented them from producing their own offspring, Rahu and Ketu are faulted for causing late marriage and infertility. Rahu and Ketu are poised for this role due to their close iconographic and other associations with snakes and are also connected with other inauspicious planetary occurrences, namely lunar and solar eclipses.

A rich and varied repertoire of rituals exists to mitigate nāga dōṣam. These remedial measures (nivartti) are most often prescribed by the astrologers who initially diagnose an individual’s “snake blemish” and typically include cycles of nāga worship. Whether the sufferer is instructed to purchase a stone snake and have it enlivened by a priest and installed at a temple or simply make offerings to existing snake images that have been established by others, this sort of nāga worship has traditionally been the most common potential redress for nāga dōṣam.

In recent years, however, we have seen the emergence of a thriving ritual tradition in South India that aims at directly securing the favor of (or averting the troubles caused by) Rahu and Ketu. Worshipers have several options to propitiate these entities, such as visiting the two specific Tamil temples associated with them, namely Thirunageshwaram for Rahu and Keezhapperumpallam for Ketu. Yet the most popular place to undertake rituals to pacify the shadow planets is the renowned Shiva temple at Srikalahasti, which is associated with the element of wind and located just over the border from Tamil Nadu in Andhra Pradesh. Remedial rituals offered there are considered highly efficacious in relieving nāga dōṣam and tens of thousands of tickets to perform them are sold at the Srikalahasti temple each month.

This paper attends closely to the tiered pūjās to placate Rahu and Ketu available at multiple price points at the Srikalahasti temple, which is represented as a singularly powerful site to mitigate dōṣam. Here devotees who purchase a pūjā ticket are handed pre-packaged bags of ritual supplies and led through a timed, group ritual to reverse dōṣam’s damaging effects. Inauspicious planetary influences are emphasized rather than the connection to snakes, their divinity, or any potential harms perpetrated against them, and most worshipers remain unaware of the temple’s most important stories. In recent years these “one and done” rituals—which a priest at Srikalahasti described in English as “quick service” solutions—have emerged as an increasingly attractive alternative to other redressals for nāga dōṣam, most of which require ongoing vows and/or multi-step rites. Considering evidence collated from extensive field research, interviews, and Tamil vernacular sources on nāga worship, snake blemish, and these “sneaky” planets, this paper suggests that shifting devotional tastes and consumption practices have contributed to decentering snakes in contemporary rituals to relieve nāga dōṣam.